Galvanometer unit

ABSTRACT

A galvanometer unit includes a limited-rotation motor with a load element such as a mirror attached to a shaft extending from the motor. In a servo loop that controls the angular position of the mirror, a position-sensor attached to the shaft provides position feedback information. The sensor includes a rotor which is positioned at the null point of the fundamental torsional resonance mode of the rotating system, thereby essentially eliminating feedback components resulting from the resonance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patentapplication, Ser. No. 09/432,244, filed Nov. 2, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No.6,380,649.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved galvanometer unit. Moreparticularly, it relates to a galvanometer unit incorporating alimited-rotation motor having an improved bearing life and improvedposition control for high-speed actuation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A galvanometer unit to which the invention relates includes alimited-rotation electromagnetic motor having a permanent-magnetarmature that interacts with the fields generated by currents throughfield windings. Motors of this type are often used in scanners, in whicha light-directing component, usually a mirror, is attached to the motorshaft and reciprocal rotation of the motor causes a light beam directedat the mirror to sweep back and forth over a target surface.

Since the motor undergoes limited rotation, the rotor,which comprisesthe armature and associated shafts, may be mounted on a flexural pivotthat acts as a torsional spring for motor rotation. However, the motorto which the present invention relates incorporates bearings to supportthe armature and the limitation on rotation is provided by the servosystem that controls the angular position of the mirror. Galvanometermotors of this type have in the past suffered from bearing wear, whichdegrades the accuracy of light beam direction, ultimately reaching anunacceptable level and requiring replacement of the scanner.

Another problem encountered with prior galvanometer motors is thetorsional resonance of the rotating system, i.e. the rotor, the load,e.g. mirror, and any other rotating components. A position sensor isconnected to the shaft to provide position feedback in the servo loopand the output of the sensor includes components resulting from resonanttwisting of the shaft. There are several resonance modes and the passband of the servo system must be well below the lowest resonancefrequency to avoid unwanted feedback causing instability of the servosystem. Other problems to which the invention is directed are thedesirability of stability and high sensitivity of the position servo. Afurther problem is the need for uniformity of temperature in therotating system and efficient removal of heat from the motor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A galvanometer unit incorporating the invention supports the armature onball or to roller bearings. A servo controller that rotates the scannerto commanded angular positions is programmed to cause the rotor toundergo one or more complete revolutions from time to time. This changesthe angular relationships between the bearing balls or rollers and theinner and outer bearing races. Bearing wear is thus shifted to differentportions of the races and wear is distributed around the races insteadof being concentrated in a single angular span. This materiallyincreases bearing life.

Preferably, also, the position sensor in the servo system is located ata null point of the fundamental resonance mode of the rotating system.Thus there is negligible feedback in the servo system from thisresonance. This permits operation of the scanner at significantly higherspeeds.

More specifically, the rotating system exhibits a fundamental torsionalresonance mode in which the instantaneous angular velocities of themotor armature and the mirror are in opposite directions. The frequencyof this mode, as well as the frequencies of higher order modes, is afunction primarily of the rotational inertias and torsional stiffnessesin the rotating system. The fundamental mode has a single null at anaxial position on the shaft determined by the physical parameters of therotating components. The output of a sensor located at the null positioncontains a negligible frequency component corresponding to thefundamental resonance mode. Therefore, the pass band of the servosystem, one of whose imputs is the angular position indicated by thesensor, can be increased to a frequency closer to the fundamentalresonance than is practical in prior systems.

A further improvement is provided by the use of a capacitive positionsensor that is thinner than prior sensors. This reduces the length ofthe shaft linking the scanning mirror to the motor, which results with acorresponding increase in shaft stiffness. This in turn increases thevarious resonances, including the fundamental resonance frequency, againpermitting an increase in the pass band of the servo system.

A novel rotor structure and method of fabricating it contribute both totorsional stiffness and high electrical and thermal conductivity betweenthe armature and the shafts in the rotating system. This facilitatesgrounding of the rotor to prevent the buildup of static charges and italso provides for temperature uniformity so as to minimize differentialthermal expansion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is an isometric partly exploded, view of a limited-rotationsystem incorporating the invention, along with a schematic view of thecontroller;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the scanner;

FIG. 3A is a longitudinal cross section of the position sensor used inthe controller;

FIG. 3B illustrates the grounding brush used to ground the rotatingparts;

FIG. 4 illustrates a prior rotor, showing the connection between themotor armature and the stub shafts;

FIG. 5A depicts the rotor assembly prior to making it to final form;

FIG. 5B illustrates configuration of a crush grinder used in guiding therotor assembly;

FIG. 5C depicts the finished rotor; FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of thecooling module used to cool the galvanometer motor;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the cooling module used to cool thegalvanometer motor; and

FIGS. 7A-7C depicts the stop mechanism used to limit rotation of themotor;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIG. 1, a scanner incorporating the invention includes amotor 10 that reciprocally rotates a beam-directing device, such as amirror 12, by way of a shaft 14. The shaft 14 passes through a positionsensor 16 that provides electrical signals indicative of the angularposition of the mirror 12. A controller 18 connects to the motor andsensor unit through a terminal block 20 on the motor. A cooling module21 is attached to the motor 10 to remove heat therefrom.

With reference to FIG. 2, the motor 10, which is enclosed in a housing23, includes a stub shaft 22 extending from the motor armature (notshown in FIG. 2) at the front end of the motor. The shaft 22 rotates ina ball or roller bearing 24, which has inner and outer races (notshown). At the rear end of the motor, the armature is similarlysupported by a shaft and a bearing (not shown). The shaft 14 has athreaded end 14 a that is threaded into a bore 22 a of the shaft 22 andpreferably soldered in place. When connected in this manner, the shafts14 and 22 function as a unitary shaft supporting the mirror 12.

The position sensor 16 has a cylindrical housing 30 that is fastened tothe motor 10 by means of pins 32 that extend through the housing 30 intocorresponding holes in the motor housing. The sensor unit includes adielectric rotor 36 and a stator assembly comprising a pair of fixedstators 33 and 34. The stators 33 and 34 are fastened together and tothe housing 30 by bolts 38 extending from a shoulder 39 in the housing.

As best seen in FIG. 3A, the stator 33 comprises a metallic ring 40 towhich a ceramic disk 41 is bonded. The inner surface of the disk 41 iscovered with a continuous metallic layer to provide a common electrode42 connected to an electronic module 43. Similarly, the stator 34comprises a metallic ring 44 to which a ceramic disk 46 is bonded. Theinner surface of the disk 40 carries a plurality of electrodes 48connected to an electronic module 49 mounted on the opposite surface ofthe disk.

A cavity 50 between the disks 41 and 46 accommodates the rotor 36, whichis affixed to the shaft 14 by compression between a shoulder 14 a(FIG. 1) and the stub shaft 22 when the shaft 14 is assembled to thestub shaft.

The rotor 36 has a set of radially extending blades 36 a-36 d (FIG. 2)that function in a conventional differential-capacitor arrangement. Forexample, the module 43 may apply an AC signal to the electrodes 42, withthe module 49 comparing the capacitive currents that pass through therotor blades 36 a-36 d to the electrodes 48. Position sensor outputsignals and power for the sensor 16 pass between the controller 18 andthe modules 43 and 49 by way of the terminal block 20 and ribbon cables50 and 51.

The rotating system exhibits a torsional resonance which is a functionof several parameters, such as the magnitudes and positions of thestiffnesses and moments of inertia in the rotating system. Thefundamental resonance mode, which has the largest amplitude, is one inwhich the rotations of the motor armature and the mirror 12 are 180° outof phase, i.e., they rotate in opposite directions. Between these twocomponents, there is a node at which there is zero rotation at thefundamental resonance frequency. The sensor rotor 36 is positioned atthis node. Its output, therefore, contains a negligible componentresulting from fundamental resonance mode of the rotating system.Accordingly, the position feedback from the sensor unit 16 to the servocomponents in the controller 18 is essentially devoid of this componentand the bandwidth of the servo system can therefore extend through thefundamental resonance frequency.

It is impractical to determine the location of the null point of thefundamental resonance and then install the sensor rotor 36 at thatlocation. Therefore, we prefer to tailor the shaft 14 to the mechanicalcharacteristics of the mirror 12 so as to position the null point at thelocation of the sensor rotor 36. For example, if the mirror has arelatively large moment of inertia, the shaft 14 might be made stifferthan would be the case with a mirror having a smaller moment of inertia.This is a preferable arrangement for production of substantialquantities of identical scanners, since identical mirrors and identicalshafts can be produced at relatively low cost.

On the other hand, for a single scanner one might assemble all thecomponents of the scanner, with the rotor 36 positioned at a locationknown to be on the left (FIG. 2) of the null point.. A mass in the formof a collar 52 is then secured around the shaft 14 so as to move thenull point to the left. The collar is moved along the shaft until thenull point is positioned at the sensor rotor 36. The correct collarposition can be determined by energizing the motor 10 in an open loopconfiguration at the fundamental resonance frequency, and ascertainingthe amplitude and phase of the output of the sensor unit 16. The collar52 is moved accordingly and the process is repeated until there is anegligible output from the sensor unit 16.

Preferably, the sensor rotor 36 is made of ceramic material. It can thusbe made thinner, yet stiffer, than the prior sensor rotors. Also withthe rotor 36 and the stator disks 42 and 46 made of ceramic material,these parts are relatively thin and they also exhibit negligibledimensional changes in response to changes in temperature and humidity.This materially improves the stability and precision of the sensor. Thegaps between the rotor 36 and the disks 42 and 46 can thus be maderelatively thin, with a corresponding increase in the signal-to-noiseratio of the position sensor and shortening of the shaft 14. The reducedthickness of the rotor, stator disks and gaps allows a reduction in theoverall size of the galvanometer assembly. Further, the shaft 14 can beshortened, resulting in increased shaft stiffness and a concomitantincrease in the torsional resonant frequencies.

The controller 18 (FIG. 1) preferably includes a microprocessor 53 thatoperates in accordance with instructions stored in a non-volatile memory54. The microprocessor positions the scanning mirror 12 in response toinput commands at a terminal 18 a. In a servo arrangement the controller18 receives position feedback signals from the sensor unit 16 and usesthese signals, together with the command signals in controlling themotor drive current. The controller 18 also includes other components,e.g. analog/digital and digital/analog converters (not shown in thecircuit diagram).

In accordance with instructions recorded in the memory 54, the processor53 records the total number of cycles of the limited rotation of themotor 10 in a register 55.

When the cycle count reaches a predetermined number, the controllercauses the motor 10 to undergo one or more complete revolutions. Thischanges the relative ball-race positions in the bearings 24 so that wearon the bearing races is shifted to an angular range in unworn portionsof the races. As set forth above, this prolongs the useful life of thebearings. The register 55 may be a hardware register as shown in FIG. 1,or, if the memory 52 is non-volatile, it may be a location in thatmemory.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional mode of attachment of a motor armature60 to the stub shafts 22. Each of the shafts is provided with a cup-likeextension 22 b that closely fits over an end of the armature 60. Theparts are secured together by an intervening elastomeric adhesive. Thisarrangement results relatively low thermal and electrical conductivitybetween the rotor 60 and the shaft 22. Moreover, the relatively lowrigidity of the coupling between the rotor and shaft contributes to lowtorsional resonance frequencies of the rotating system.

In FIGS. 5A-5C I have illustrated a novel rotor and a method offabricating it that overcome these problems. As shown in FIG. 5A,cylindrical shaft blanks 22 are positioned against the ends of thearmature 60. These parts are inserted into a sleeve 64 and secured tothe sleeve with a high-conductivity solder such as a silver-tineutectic. The solder bond covers the entire opposing surfaces of thesleeve 64 and the parts enclosed therein. The sleeve 64 is of amaterial, such as copper, characterized by high thermal and electricalconductivity.

Next, the assembly is ground on a centerless grinder. Finally, it iscrush ground in a grinder whose cylinders are depicted in FIG. 5B.Specifically, the crush grinder comprises a grinding cylinder 66 in theform of a right cylinder and a cylinder 68 whose cross section is thenegative of the axial cross section of the finished rotor. This resultsin a rotor 60, as depicted in FIG. 5C, in which the sleeve 64 provides arigid connection between the shafts 22 and the armature 62, and,further, provides high thermal and electrical conductivity between thearmature and the shafts. This provides a uniform temperature throughoutthe rotor and, further, permits grounding of rotor anywhere along itslength.

A further advantage the rotor construction is the conductive pathsprovided by the sleeve 64. They operate as a shorted turn that reducesthe inductance of the armature windings and thus decreases the voltagerequired to drive the motor 10.

If the scanner is used in a two-axis system with separate scannersproviding beam movement along the respective axes, rotation of themirror 12 beyond a limited range during may cause contact between themirror 12 and a mirror on the other scanner. Accordingly, mechanicalstops are usually provided to prevent excessive rotation. In that case,the scanner will be removed from the two-scanner assembly, and the stepsremoved before undertaking full revolution of the motor 10. The stopsmust also be subsequently reassembled to the rotor. The structuredepicted in FIGS. 7A-7C overcomes these problems.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7A, a stop pin 80 extends throughthe rear motor shaft 22. The pin 22 coacts with a set of limit pins 82disposed in a stop assembly 84 (FIG. 7B) affixed to the motor housing23. The limit pins 82, which extend from a solenoid plunger 86, arearrayed as depicted in FIG. 7C, which in the solid line, depicts the pin22 in the neutral position of the rotor 60 (FIG. 7A) and, in the dashedlines, the limits of rotation of the rotor defined by the positions ofpins 82.

The plunger 86 is urged to the left (FIG. 7B) by a spring 88 to bringthe limit pins 82 to the position shown by the dashed line, so that theylimit rotation of the rotor 60 as depicted in FIG. 7C. In a two-axissystem, the mirror on the other scanner is temporarily rotated to aposition where it will not interfere with full rotation of the mirror 12(FIG. 2). The solenoid coil 90 is then energized, either manually or bythe controller 18, to retract the plunger 86 and the limit pins 82 totheir illustrated position and thus permit full rotation, as describedabove, to change the relative positions of the races and balls and inbearings 24.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cooling module 21 includes a grooved plate 70 inclose thermal contact with the motor 10 and a fan unit 72, positionedabove the plate 70, that projects air toward the plate. The grooves inthe plate 70 are relatively shallow, and, as is well known, thisconfiguration provides efficient cooling with a negligible velocity ofthe air exiting from the module. With this arrangement, cooling of themotor 10 does not result in appreciable air currents in the opticalpath, which would degrade the accuracy with which the scanner positionslight beams. Furthermore, it imparts negligible vibration to the system,thereby minimizing vibration as a source of error in positioning thebeam reflected by the mirror 12.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, connection of the rotor to system ground isaccomplished by a brush 78, affixed to the rear surface of the ceramicdisk 41, and connected to the electronic module 43. The brush 78 is agenerally U-shaped spring fashioned from a material such as a goldalloy. A pair of inwardly extending contact bends 78 a and 78 b are thusurged inwardly against a slip ring 92, of like material, affixed to theshaft 14. This maintains a reliable electrical connection to the shaft14 and thus with the entire rotor.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: providing a motor having arotor, an armature, a shaft extending from said armature, and a loadelement affixed to an end of said shaft remote from said armature;causing the motor to reciprocally rotate the rotor, includingcontrolling the angular position of the load element using a positionsensor for sensing the angular position of the shaft, wherein theposition sensor includes a sensor rotor attached to the shaft forrotation therewith, and a stator assembly for sensing the angularposition of the sensor rotor; and positioning the sensor rotor at thenull point of the fundamental torsional resonance of the rotating systemthat includes the motor rotor, the shaft and the load element.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: adjusting the position of thenull point to coincide with the position of the sensor rotor on theshaft.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing thestator assembly with first and second stators disposed around the shaft,the stators having opposing faces and opposing electrodes on said faces;affixing the rotor to the shaft between said opposing faces, wherein therotor is formed of a dielectric material and has radially extendingblades; and sensing the capacitances between said electrodes.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, further comprising: clamping the stators together,wherein a cavity is formed between the opposing electrodes; andpositioning the rotor in the cavity.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: supporting the rotor for rotation using first and secondbearings; and providing full rotation of the armature at predeterminedtimes, thereby to distribute wear on said bearings.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: removing heat from the motor by:positioning a heat-dissipation plate having a first surface in intimatethermal contact with a surface of the motor, and a second surface havingfins projecting therefrom, and projecting air toward the second surface,perpendicularly to said second surface, whereby the air impinges on thesecond surface and flows outwardly therefrom along said fins.